Bundesliga: Stuttgart beats Bayern Munich

Mario Gomez scored twice and VfB Stuttgart beat Bayern Munich 3-1 on Saturday, giving the Bundesliga leaders its first loss of the season.

Written by Associated Press

Read Time: 3 mins

Berlin:

Mario Gomez scored twice and VfB Stuttgart beat Bayern Munich 3-1 on Saturday, giving the Bundesliga leaders its first loss of the season.

Bayern, caught in a four-match winless streak, remained first in the standings as Hamburger SV was held to a 1-1 draw against Schalke. Bayern leads Werder Bremen and Hamburg by just one point, after once being five points clear.

Bayern looked lethargic playing just 43 hours after a 2-2 UEFA Cup draw against Bolton.

But the club had rested five players on Thursday, and Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer said the performance reminded him of last season when an underachieving side missed the Champions League for the first time in a decade.

"This is almost worst than April. This was a throwback to former times - no willpower," Beckenbauer said.

Stuttgart jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first half in front of 55,000 home fans.

Gomez chested home Magnin's cross in the 10th minute, and Yildiray Basturk scored in the 30th with a shot from well beyond the area. Gomez added his second with a close-range goal in the 42nd.

Luca Toni scored in the 86th minute for Bayern, putting back a shot from Miroslav Klose that hit the right post.

That came after Bayern defender Lucio was ejected in the 70th for elbowing Ludovic Magnin in the face.

Stuttgart's young team, which won the title last season, has shaken off an early season slump and climbed to eighth place, a few weeks after it nearly fell into the relegation zone.

Gomez, Germany's player-of-the-year, is back in form after an injury with six goals in four games. Several other key players are also healthy again.

"We have quality on the team, but they all have to be playing," Stuttgart coach Armin Veh said. "We're not that deep. We can't replace seven or eight players."

Bayern has 28 points from 13 rounds, with Bremen ahead of Hamburg on goal difference at 27.

Hamburg earned the draw against Schalke when Ivica Olic leveled with a 35th-minute header off a free kick, after Mladen Krstajic also scored in the air in the 12th.

Schalke had the best chances to win, despite having nine injured players.

"I think we didn't show enough," Hamburg coach Huub Stevens said. "But you have to be satisfied when you win a point in an away match against a rival for the title."

Diego led Bremen to a 4-0 romp over Karlsruher SC, the league's fourth-placed team.

The Brazilian scored in the 25th and 45th, and was joined by Hugo Almeida in the 66th and Naldo in the 76th. Still coping with a dozen injuries, Bremen has taken 20 points in the last eight games in its run into second.

"We only worry about ourselves," Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf said of the standings. "But this game today was a lot of fun."

In other games, Dortmund and Frankfurt drew 1-1, Berlin edged Hannover 96 1-0 on the season's first snow-covered field and Rostock edged Cottbus 3-2. On Friday, Bochum beat Duisburg 2-0.